Now I know what to get for holiday gifts for those of my friends that are "crime TV" addicts. This very enjoyable and instructive new book by Dr. Ramsland could also be titled Great Moments in Forensic Science. While everyone who watches the popular forensics shows on TV knows how important DNA, luminol, fiber evidence and other modern-day forensic tools are to solving crime, most people have no idea how these techniques slowly, and often contentiously, evolved into their present-day acceptance in the courtroom. Nor do people have any appreciation of how the early forensic pioneers and their supporters risked their reputations and careers developing, testing and defending the new scientific methods.

TORONTO (Reuters) - Canadians are becoming wordier, particularly when it comes to their last words. Alberta-based author Nancy Millar has wandered the country's graveyards and says that over the past 20 years, gravestone epitaphs have begun to illustrate a trend of Canadians wanting to be more than "eternally beloved" when they "rest in peace."